TODAY is 'Record Store Day' so go out there and support you local record store...
"This is the one day thay all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and varisous promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artist across the globe make special appearances and performances."
Large scale live music events in the UK contribute almost £1bn a year to the UK economy, a major industry survey of festivals and concerts suggests.
At least 7.7 million visits to events in 2009 resulted in £1.4bn being spent, equivalent to a positive contribution to the economy of £864m, UK Music said.
This expenditure sustained the equivalent of 19,700 jobs, it added.
One fifth of the total spend came from overseas tourists, who spend 25% more than non-music tourists
Its just been announced that actor-comedian Tracy Morgan is set to host this years 2013 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas next Month. Something he says...
"I'm honored to be a part of one of music's biggest nights."
Many comedians over the years have taken centre stage to host some of the world biggest and most publicised music awards. But it hasn't always been 'all fun and games' as you'd expect. British comedian, Russel Brand, presented the MTV Video Music awards in 2008, and caused some upset with his controversial and blunt humour. Despite this he was invited back to the states the following year host the 2009 Award show. US comic, Kevin Hart too got his go at host of the MTV Video Music Awards last year and was also questioned about his 'on the edge' jokes regarding the 'Drake and Chris Brown brawl' and the 'Kristen Stewart affair.'
The BRITs took a less risky approach and chose the lovable, incredibly British comedian James Corden to host in both 2012 and 2013. Poor Corden was criticised for cutting off the British music industry's finest, Adele, during her acceptance speech but in his defense he was put in a very difficult position as host trying to keep to the tight LIVE schedule of the show.
In my opinion comedians are great hosts. They keep us entertained, make us laugh and definitely keep us 'on the edge of our seats.' They add character and humour and shouldn't be taken as seriously as they have in the past.
However, everyone and everything that takes place during these hugely anticipated and publicised events are open to criticism, and we all know much easier it seems to be for journalists to pin-point the flaws. And in entertainment, as long as people are talking, any news seems to be good news right?
How well do you think Tracy Morgan will to at this years Billboards?
"The selection of award winners is based on Billboard's chart rankings which are determined by album sale, track download, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social media data collected during the time period between Feb. 27, 2012 and Feb. 24, 2013"
How the BRITs began and how they are today are two very
different events. I am going to focus on the advancement of digital technologies
and how they have developed The BRITs into a commercial, ‘mega’ music event.
“So wind back the
years and its 1977- the year it all started. Cher was already 21, Robbie was 3
and Beyonce was just a figments of her parents imagination,” (The BRITs).
The first ever ‘BRITs’ were known as the ‘British Record
Industry Britannia Centenary Awards’ (yes..! it’s a mouthful). The event was established to mark the
centenary of Thomas Edison’s invention of sound recording and was the music
industries’ way of marking the Queen’s Silver Jubilee whereby the BPI would
honour music from the previous quarter century. The event cost £25,000 to stage
and broadcast, with 85 member company of the BPI (The British Recorded Music
Industry) choosing the award winners. Then it was broadcast by Thames Television and
it was noted that “it was definitely TV running the show” with Simon and
Garfunkel doing a draw dropping performance, but being asked to do it again…
and again. This takes the magic out of a concert for the audience and
is probably a contributing factor to why today's BRITs are now live/live. Live/Live means that the show happens between
8pm-10pm, with not a minute to spare, shown on ITV. Performers play live and
winners are announced live, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats…
not knowing what might happen next. For me this all adds to the excitement and
memorability of the ceremony.
In complete contrast, after a 4 year break and being renamed
the ‘British Record Industry Awards,’ because of the TV takeover in 1977 that
took away from the event experience, the 1982 ceremony had no performance and
no broadcast. It was an ‘industry only’ event with a three course meal and
prizes awarded to great music achievements from the previous 12 months.
The
BRIT Awards as we know them today have come on a lot. Already mentioned today's show is well and truly LIVE on ‘Prime-time’ television, since reverted back in 2009,
with one stage and one shot for all performers, entertainers and event staff. A
tight schedule has to be upheld during the event with stage turnovers being
conducted while awards are being presented…its no wonder the production team
are pleased when winners want to that ‘everyone under the sun.’
Now
1000 selected Voting Academy Members across all sectors of the music industry
decide upon the nominees and an online voting system is in place on the BRITs
website for the pubic to select upon the WINNER! The BRITs have become a commercial, long standing, inclusive of all music lovers, magnificent event with a huge
British personality, which I believe differentiates itself from the number of
other commercial global Music Awards (each with their own USP too, of course). The
internet and online presence has definitely added to this and expanded the event
to us, outside the industry, letting us truly get involved and feel apart of
the show. It is this that has sustained the level of interest and enthusiasm for the music awards over the year.
Their
online presence, like so many organisations, doesn't stop now at a company website.
The BRITs website links to all their social networking sites which include
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr. Despite using these for the obvious of updating
their fans of news but the fun element with big events and shows is the real time nature of social networking. Twitter specifically is used for people
to share there thoughts and communicate with others and ‘The
BRITs’ themselves about the event while its taking place using the ‘hash tag’ (#)
tool. You repeatedly see this appear on your TV screen now, often
referred to as trending, and creates online forums for discussions increasing
people interaction with the event. Their website also offers exclusive and
backstage footage of the event, again increasing public engagement, something
which wouldn't be so ‘expected’ and ‘ absorbed’ by us without the internet and
social media. Through digital advances we are also now able to purchase and
download from iTunes (advertised via the website) live performances from the BRITs.
Technology has advance so much that we can now gain a clear sound recording
from a live event and distribute this completely digitally for peoples personal
and ‘on the move’ use… Crazy! Broadcasting music events like this can directly and instantly increase artists digital sales of singles and albums too. If we see a performance we enjoy we can jump straight onto out laptops, tables and smart phones and download the track we want right there and then.
The
BRITs has come a long way from where it started with the help of digital
technology and how this has impacted day-to-day life and the way we all
communicate and do business. Its no wonder building and planning this show
takes around 9 months every year, but its definitely worth it for us
music fans!
Technology and the internet have undoubtedly changed the way
we live, communicate and do business. Social Networking has transformed the
commercial industry, especially in music and entertainment. YouTube was one of the
first video sharing sites, and probably still the most well know of them all.
Founded in February 2005 YouTube allows billions of users to discover, watch
and share originally created videos.
Each month YouTube
has over 1 billion users watching over 4 billion hours of video and receives 72
hours of new content every minute- YouTube statistics.
YouTube is now become a global platform for people to brand
and sell themselves to a worldwide audience, for FREE! Anyone can have their
own YouTube channel with the chance of their clip ‘going viral’ and being
shared by millions. YouTube is absolutely dominated by music. From
the top 20 Most Viewed YouTube Videos of all time, 19 are music videos. This
highlights the overwhelming need for aspiring artists and bands to take
advantage of the social networking site to get their music heard and embed it
into their ‘digital marketing strategies.’
Just like a blog there are many tools and tactics to getting more video
views and subscribers to your channel, for example; 'optimizing your tags,' posting often, and creating quality that offers something 'remarkable' for your fans.
With the potential of reaching such a mass audience (over
127 million unique visitors in May 2012 alone) the power of the internet and
YouTube has consequently propelled aspiring young talents to fame and fortune.
Here are just 2 chart-topping artists that started online, which I’ve personally
followed throughout their journey to success...
Justin Bieber-before
he was discovered in 2008 by American talent manager Scooter Braun, who came
across Bieber’s videos on YouTube and later became his manager.
Braun later arranged for the young singer to meet with Usher
Raymond in Atlanta, Georgia, and signed him to ‘Raymond Braun Media Group’ (RBMG). Bieber
was then approached LA Reid, record executive for Island Records, who offered
him a further recording contract. Probably the most well-known artist to have
started on the online platform has already won awards at the American Music Awards,
Billboard Music Awards, Brits, MTV Video Music Awards, MTV EMA, NME and more…
Conor Maynard- When
American singer/songwriter Ne-Yo watched Maynard’s cover of his track
‘Beautiful Monster’ he contacted the singer, actually setting up a Skype
meeting with him, and later went onto become his mentor, recently releasing a
song together ‘Turn Around.’ Conor’s rise to success in 2012 has led to him
being nominated for awards at the Urban Music Awards, Mobo Awards, MTV EMA’s ,
The Brits and has won the MTV’s Brand New for 2012 award.
Ne-Yo has since discovered and signed British Indian artist
Sonna Rele to Universal Motown Rocords. While in London on his UK tour last
month he offered a recording contract when she performed at his intimate gig in
association with Priceless London at ‘Under the Bridge.’ He then further invited
her to accompany him at his O2 concert the following week.
We wonder how well this YouTube star will do, and if she
will one day be receiving these iconic music awards of her own.
New online technology has opened the doors for people to be
noticed and signed by major recording labels who believe in their talent, which
has clearly been recognised and embraced at music awards ceremonies around the
world.
Technology has been one of the greatest developments of our time. Now life without the Internet, smart phones, social networking and iPads would seem pretty dull. We love technology. Feeling constantly connected to our social worlds and instant access to an overwhelming content of information, news, videos and music at our finger tips. Technology has completely changed the way we live, communicate and do business.
Over the years the music industry has had to cleverly adapt and change to keep up with advancing technology. Initially artists made money from record sales, album sales, and touring. Before ‘the digital age’ fans would have to walk into a music store, and buy the vinyl record or album to listen to the great quality sound in the comfort of their homes, as they lacks the ability of easy transportation. However micro-music developed throughout the 90’s and music became almost completely digital. This opened the doors for sits and software like LimeWire and Napster to enable people to stream and download music for free directly to their computers. With little to no barriers this meant the masses had incredibly quick easy access to music they wanted. Eventually many of these sites got shut down for copyright infringements and IP lawsuits and the industry was left wondering how to continue charging for goods still available for FREE online?
Welcome to the ‘Apple’ era…
Music on the move has been available to us since the early 90’s, and artists were able to utilize CDs and smaller vehicles of music playback such as Walkman or CD Players. However Apple and its ‘i’ products took the music industry by storm with a world renowned status and arguable saved the music business by provided a legal music downloading system iTunes. This provided a new platform, keeping up with the industry advancements, for record labels and artists to sell their music completely digital. Now we don’t have to go to a store to purchase a new single or album. We can simple hear it on the radio and jump straight onto our Apple product, whether it be our ‘iPhone’ ‘iPad’ or ‘iPod and download it straight to our account. Apple has made music so… available to us!
Illegal downloading still happens and combined with streaming sites like YouTube, Vevo and SoundCloud and legal download site iTunes in-store record sales are suffering. Now, youngsters especially, are growing up in a world where you aren’t proud of your CD collection and owning that album, being able to flick through the album leaflet isn’t enough to want to OWN the physical copy.
Research in recent years has shown;
Only 53% of young people have purchased music or video in-store over the last 12 months. This is partly attributed to the popularity of downloading and streaming via the internet (Mintel, 'Youth technology-UK-2010).
The number of people buying CDs year on year fell for the third time in 2011, despite approximately half of consumers in Mintel’s exclusive consumer research preferring to own a physical copy of their content (Mintel, 'Media Consumption - UK- July 2012').
The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) estimates that online copyright infringement cost the UK music industry around £200 million in 2009. New legislation has now been passed (the Digital Economy Act) to discourage illegal file sharing, but it is not clear how successful this will be and the likelihood is that new tools for piracy will emerge (Mintel, 'Paid-For vs. Free- Consumer attitudes to pricing in Media and Music- UK - April 2010).
HMV goes into administration…
Having been around since 1921, HMV has struggled to complete with online retailing, supermarkets and digital downloads. Despite diversifying into live venues, festivals, ticketing and promoting, and artist management operations, increasing its product range, as well as having a digital site powered by 7digital offering download services, the music store still went into administration in January 2013. Shares were suspended from the London Stock Exchange. With declining sales and share price as well as debts HMV had to announce they would be closing around 100 stores to try and save the company from total collapse.
Even many of us who haven't stepped into a HMV for years ourselves still probably hold a soft sport for the record store we grew up with. UK artist, Wretch 32, posted this image on his Instagram site expressing his sorrow witnessing the iconic white dog disappearing from our high-streets...
However this month brought a little light to HMV as many
branches were sold to Hilco (already owning HMV Canada). This is set to save
141 outlets, saving jobs and giving some areas their local music store back. The
future for the UK’s last surviving national music retailer still however looks
uncertain.
Technology has allowed artists to engage on a more personal
level through the development in technology and social media. Now we can follow
and chat to our favourite artists on Twitter and Facebook, we can get an
insight into their lives through their eyes on their Instagram and Keek
accounts, all which add value to the relationship fans develop with their much-loved
performers.
Technology despite having its harmful effects on the
industry has also forced and enabled a wave of creative experimentation with
new business models and opportunities to distribute music.
Check out our next blog post for examples of innovative and
exciting new ways music lovers are able to share and discuss music thanks to
technology…
